Keeping It…Your Bedroom…Real. And Dark. And Cool.

Memorial Day is now in the rear view mirror, and that means we’re heading into the summer season.

Ah, summer. There are so many marvelous things associated with summer. School’s out, vacations, picnics and barbecues, pool parties, trips to the beach, camping, baseball games, catching lightning bugs (or fireflies, if you prefer), getting those oh-so-delicious, garden-fresh tomatoes or strawberries from your own back yard.

There’s more day to enjoy during the summer months, too. At least is seems like it. Courtesy of the Summer Solstice, the first official day of summer is our longest day of the year.

If only that were true! I could use an extra hour or two per day, couldn’t you? No, the days are still 24 hours long, just like always. But the amount of daylight we in the northern hemisphere get to enjoy in the summer is at its peak right around June 20th – 22nd. And the further north you are, the more daylight you get. Our friends in Alaska and northern Canada get between 17 and 24 hours!

As much as I love autumn and winter (forgive me – I live in Arizona), it is so much easier to wake up and get out of bed when the sun is already shining, or at least showing its first rays. Instead of trying to stay in my warm, dark, winter-morning cocoon, the growing sunlight draws me out of sleep and into the fresh, new day.

That said, it can make it tough to stay asleep when the sunlight starts shining in on you before you need to wake up. Around here, the earliest sunrise is around 5:17 am. That also means the sky is beginning to lighten up even earlier than that. If you’re at all sensitive to light when you’re sleeping, this could make it tough to get your entire nightly allotment of sleep.

It’s sort of the same deal on the other end of the day as well, and Daylight Savings Time stretches our perceived daytime hours out even later. (Don’t even get me started on DST and the confusion it causes with Arizona abstaining from it. That’s a rant for another day!)

With all that extra sunshine and bright skies, we can play (or work) at whatever we want to much later into the evening. In Missouri, where I grew up, it was plenty light until almost 9:00 pm for a good chunk of the summer. What’s wrong with that? Absolutely nothing! It’s wonderful to have more time for all the fun summer activities we all enjoy.

The only, teeny-tiny drawback that I can think of is that, this too, might be a detriment to our getting enough sleep.

It’s hard to go to sleep with the sun shining. Just ask any young child who has an 8:00 pm bedtime but really, really, wants to be out playing when it’s still light out.

And while this probably doesn’t affect most of us adults – I haven’t encountered many who regularly go to bed that early – what it does do is keep us active and more stimulated later in the day, keeps the ambient temperature higher/later, and pushes our overall settling down and bedtime later.

Which means a shorter time asleep.

What to do when the day is longer and the temps are higher, and it’s impairing our ability to get enough sleep?

It’s really about keeping your bedroom as dark and as cool as possible.

Dark and cool often go hand in hand. If you can keep your bedroom dark during the day it will go a long way toward making sure it doesn’t heat up and retain that heat into the night.

This doesn’t mean you can’t throw open your bedroom curtains or blinds when you get up. Letting the sun shine in is a great way to wake up, get moving and feel optimistic in the morning. But you don’t have to leave them open all day long. If you’re away from home at work all day, or even if you’re home but don’t spend a lot of time in the bedroom during the hot part of the day, you can close them back up once you’re finished in there in the morning.

Depending on how your bedroom is situated, (direction it faces, how much shade there is outside the room) this one step can amount to a few degrees difference by evening. And that can make the difference between feeling warm and uncomfortable as you get into bed, and feeling cool, comfortable and easily drifting off.

Your regular window coverings should do the trick, but if they don’t, you may decide you want to make some changes. And there are several things you can do to keep cool.

New shades, blinds, curtains or drapes are the most obvious solution to too much light and heat coming into your bedroom. Making this investment may be worth it to you if you find the early morning sunlight, or even street lights, neighbors’ porch lights, or headlights from nearby traffic bother you. In a neighborhood near me, an elementary school recently replaced their old marquee sign with a brand new, blazing-bright LED marquee. I’m pretty sure the people in the houses directly across the street are cursing that school nightly.

You can go one step further and purchase light-blocking window coverings. Some of those block noise as well as light, so if outdoor sounds and light hinder your sleep, this could be a viable option for you. Pretty, they usually are not, but if they solve a pressing problem for you, it may be worth considering.

Another option is having outdoor sun screens installed on your windows. These are very popular here in the southwest, where the sun’s rays not only heat up homes, but fade and deteriorate anything in their path, including furniture and artwork.

Planting trees around your home is a great option for beautifying your landscaping while also providing a cooling effect on the entire house. It’s definitely a long-term strategy, though. That little sapling planted this year will take several years to grow and spread enough to provide any significant shade. Then again, the years do fly by, don’t they?

Just chill.

So far, we’ve been focusing mostly on keeping the sunlight from heating up your bedroom. But sometimes you just need to reduce the ambient temperature. In other words, cool things down.

We’ll start with the most obvious. If you live in a climate where the nights are nice and cool, and you don’t have to worry about intruders, open your bedroom windows. If you have windows on different walls, you’ll get wonderful cross-ventilation. You can amp the cooling effect up a bit by hanging a wet sheet over the window to provide some additional evaporative cooling.

This one is pretty obvious too. Turn the temperature down on your air conditioner. It’s easy, effortless, and gets the job done, making you happy and comfortable.

…..until the electric bill comes! What the……? How did that number, already pretty big in the summer, get to be HUGE?

Most of us want to balance comfort in our homes with reasonable utility bills. With the recommended ‘ideal’ sleeping temperature in the mid-60’s F, that can be quite a challenge in the summer. If the utility bills that come with keeping the thermostat turned down to this level are reasonable for you, then that’s your simple solution.

And may I just say that I am really jealous. First, I’m not sure my A/C would even keep my house at 65° at night in July and August without giving up the ghost. It probably would never shut off, and may not ever even get down that low. Second, the electric bill would probably send me into hysterics.

So, if you’re like me, and need some alternative suggestions for keeping cool, here we go!

Fans. Ceiling fans, oscillating pedestal fans, stationary box fans, sleek tower fans, or even the amazing, modern “bladeless” fans. They all work (basically) the same way. They cool you down by keeping the air circulating around you. We say they cool you down, and that’s true. They don’t actually cool the room, but the air moving over your skin does make you feel cooler and more comfortable. Electric fans have been on the job since the 1880’s, and they are still making us more comfortable today.

And if you’re into hacks, you can set a bowl of ice cubes between you and the fan, and the fan will blow the cooler air over you as the ice melts. Nice!

A low-tech option that has been in use for years – like, thousands of them – is to use a damp sheet as your covering. Not soaking wet, just damp. Put a sheet in your washing machine and run it through a quick spin, and you have your cooling cover. It may feel weird to you at first, but it can really do the trick. It’s even better if you’ve got some air movement from a window, a fan, or even your A/C blowing on you.

If that doesn’t appeal to you, try the same thing with a hand towel or even a washcloth. Just soak it with cold water, wring it out, and set it on your body where it feels good; around your neck, on your chest or stomach, or your legs. Often, just using this to cool down as you’re falling asleep will be enough to get you to sleep. Yes, you’ll wake up with a damp washcloth or towel in your bed. It’s a great option if your main sleep obstacle is getting to sleep in the first place when you’re feeling too warm.

Cooling mattress pads and pillows are relatively new on the scene. They work by keeping your body and head cooled instead of the heat that otherwise can build up around you in your bed.

Speaking of heat building up in your bed, using smooth cotton sheets and bed clothes will let air circulate around you, keeping you cool. They also allow any perspiration to evaporate quickly. That’s your body’s own A/C system!

Smaller or flatter pillows are also a good idea, because they keep your head sitting on top and not sinking down into the pillow, allowing for more of your head and shoulders to be exposed to air movement.

What are your favorite techniques for keeping cool on a hot summer night? We’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions. Email us at info@sleepsatisfaction.com. We love hearing from you!